It is well known in the art to apply heat transferable decalcomania, commonly known as a decal, to clothing such as T-shirts. In addition to imprinting relatively flat, fibrous articles, there is also a considerable demand for decorating and personalizing curvilinear and other shapes made from inorganic materials, for instance, vitreous and ceramic articles. Accordingly, an area of art has developed in which decalcomania is applied to ceramic mugs and the like.
In this process, a carrier sheet having a heat sublimating ink design is placed against a mug, which has been previously coated with a heat softenable polyester coating, and heated sufficiently for the ink to sublimate and transfer the design to the coating. Many arrangements have been developed which are capable of applying decalcomania to a ceramic curvilinear surface.
One such arrangement is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,193 to Aramini. This arrangement comprises tightly wrapping a flexible sheet-like heating blanket around a major portion of the circumferential surface of a cup over which the decalcomania has been laid. Heat is generated by the heating blanket in an amount sufficient to transfer the decalcomania to the cup.
Another such arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,454 to Talalay et al. This device employs a flexible transfer head which comprises a supported, flexible electric heating pad which is made to envelop and press against the surface of the article onto which the decal design is to be transferred. The pad is then electrically heated, causing the sublimation dyes on the decal interposed between the pad and the surface of the article to be transferred from the backing sheet of the decal to the article surface.
Yet another arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,529, assigned to Thermagenics Technology. This apparatus uses a metal band cuff which is wrapped around a mug. The cuff is lined with a layer of variable density foam and a high temperature electrical heater tape. The heater tape provides heat for sublimation.
Some common problems with these designs include their difficulty for use in mass production, awkwardness of the flexible blanket arrangements, difficulty in adjusting for different mug sizes, and danger posed by substantially uninsulated and unprotected heat generated by the heaters.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a simple apparatus for applying decalcomania to mugs and the like which avoids the above referenced problems of the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for applying decalcomania to mugs and the like which is safe and highly efficient for use in a mass production environment.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for applying decalcomania to mugs and the like which is easily adjustable for different mug sizes.